I traveled to Western Pennsylvania to welcome in Election Day on 11/9/16 for The New York Times. I worked on two stories with writer Trip Gabriel about how the people in Erie and Ambridge

felt about the election. Some were avid Trump supporters, others seemed to pick him as the "lesser of two evils," while a few remained undecided until they walked into their booths. Western Pennsylvania has suffered economically since many of its steel mills were closed. Donald Trump promised to restore mills to the area, giving hope and nostalgia to an area that feels as though it's hemorrhaging jobs with livable wages. Many voters felt as though they were voiceless, even rejecting the idea that their candidate had the chance of winning until the morning after the results came in. This is a collection of images from these two towns in the days preceding and following 11/9/16.

Rooted deep within the Rustbelt region, the community in Ambridge unites in it's faith in religion and the power of the steel mill. Worship centers collect on multiple street corners throughout the small town.

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Pubic transportation is available to the 7,000 residents of Ambridge. A sticker is pasted to the back of a pick-up truck parked across the with words that read “Crown of thorns on his head/ Nailed to the cross and you on his mind/ only God can bring you home.”

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Jeremy Valles smooths the edges of the new concrete poured in the back of the Maytag appliance store in Ambridge. Although much of the town has seen unemployment raise, Valles says business has been good for him and the company he works for.

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Donald Trump won Pennsylvania by a very small margin. Warring neighbors took to running over one another's yard signs. Many residents in Erie decided to enlarge their campaign lawn signs in an effort to keep opponents from destroying them.

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Donald O’Sullivan reads the newspaper at Russ’s Dinor in Erie while Mike Musken eats lunch with his wife, Janey. All voted for Hillary Clinton in election but did so begrudgingly. Previously Erie voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama, this year, the city voted for Donald Trump.

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Crosses line the walls in one of the offices at Good Samaritan Parish in Ambridge.

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Father Joe Carr gave communion during service at Good Samaritan Roman Catholic Church.

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Signs of the steel mills now mostly closed in Ambridge the day before the presidential election.

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Adrian Kajac, center, takes a break from playing darts to watch the election results come in from Fred’s Divot bar on election night. In the bar there was only one person who did not vote for Donald Trump. Most present were there to play darts or watch the Penguins ice hockey game. When it became clear that Donald Trump would win the election, many still were too far in shock to believe that their candidate won. "I voted for him, trust me I want him to win. But there's no way in hell he could win," one man sitting at the bar said.

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John Gaguzis, an outspoken Trump supporter, watches the election results come in from Fred’s Divot.

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The K&N Cafe in the town of Ambridge shows the result of the election in the morning after Donald Trump won.

Chris Trott works on his father-in-law's trailer at the shop that he recently opened called Second Chance, Restoration and Design. While many business are leaving or closing in Erie, Trott recently opened his shop and mainly repairs trucks. He is optimistic about the future of his business but worries about Erie's economy with the closing of the other factories and stores.

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Downtown Erie.

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The sun rises another day on the train tracks leading into the mostly now closed factories of Ambridge.